Disposable double-edged skate blade

Abstract

A disposable reversible skate blade for an ice skate comprising a thin runner blade held around the edges of a lightweight composite core, and a pair of opposed blade supports, which may be individually replaceable or which may be formed as an integral part of the core. The entire blade assembly is lightweight, easily removable, reversible and replaceable in a skate with little or no requirement for tools, and is inexpensive enough to manufacture that the blade is disposable.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A reversible disposable blade for an ice skate, said blade comprising:
 a core having a pair of opposed planar sides, each planar side bounded by two opposed edges and two curved ends; and 
 at least one ice-contacting runner on each of said opposed edges; 
 said ice-contacting runners and said core being composed of different materials; 
 and further comprising a reinforcing core within said core. 
 
     
     
       2. The blade of  claim 1  wherein said core is composed of at least one material selected from the group consisting of aluminum, ballistic nylon, epoxy resin, fibre-reinforced polymer, fibreglass, carbon fibre, aramid polymer fibre and para-aramid polymer fibre. 
     
     
       3. The blade of  claim 1  wherein said runner is composed of at least one material selected from the group consisting of stainless steel, carbon steel, aluminum, titanium and ceramic. 
     
     
       4. The blade of  claim 1  wherein said runner is glued to said core. 
     
     
       5. The blade of  claim 1  wherein said runner is compression molded to said core. 
     
     
       6. The blade of  claim 1  wherein said runner is molded to said core during an injection molding process. 
     
     
       7. A reversible disposable blade for an ice skate, said blade comprising:
 a core having a pair of opposed planar sides, each planar side bounded by two opposed edges and two curved ends; and 
 at least one ice-contacting runner on each of said opposed edges; 
 said ice-contacting runners and said core being composed of different materials; and 
 at least one reinforcing bar extending between said opposed edges. 
 
     
     
       8. The blade of  claim 1  wherein at least one of said runners further comprises a plurality of protrusions, and said protrusions are embedded into said core. 
     
     
       9. The blade of  claim 1  wherein at least one of said runners comprises an extension along its inner length, and said extension is embedded into said core. 
     
     
       10. The blade of  claim 1  wherein said at least one runner extends along at least one of said opposed edges and over at least one of said curved ends. 
     
     
       11. The blade of  claim 1  wherein said core has a thickness between said two opposed flat sides and said thickness tapers along said blade. 
     
     
       12. The blade of  claim 1  wherein said runner comprises a channel along its outer length and further comprises a filler material in said channel. 
     
     
       13. The blade of  claim 1  further comprising at least one aperture through said core to accommodate a fastener to attach said blade to said ice skate. 
     
     
       14. The blade of  claim 1  further comprising at least one blade support on each of said opposed planar sides. 
     
     
       15. The blade of  claim 14  wherein said blade supports and said core are inseparable. 
     
     
       16. The blade of  claim 14  wherein said blade supports are separable from said core. 
     
     
       17. The blade of  claim 16  wherein said core further comprises at least one aperture adapted to interlock with at least one corresponding protrusion on said blade supports. 
     
     
       18. The blade of  claim 16  wherein said core further comprises at least one extension adapted to interlock with at least one corresponding aperture on said blade supports. 
     
     
       19. An ice skate comprising:
 a boot; 
 a blade holder extending from said boot; and 
 a detachable and reversible skate blade comprising:
 a core having a pair of opposed planar sides, each planar side bounded by two opposed edges and two curved ends; and 
 at least one ice-contacting runner on each of said opposed edges; 
 said ice-contacting runners and said core being composed of different materials; 
 and further comprising a reinforcing core within said core; 
 
 wherein said skate blade is disposable.